ATTY GEN. ASHCROFT: While the investigation is ongoing and still moving forward
vigorously, we are beginning to learn
more about the attack last Tuesday and the plot to make it happen.

As we have said before, we do believe that there are associates of the hijackers that have
connections to terrorist organizations that may still be in the United States. The tips we have received and the leads
developed in the FBI field offices
have been extremely helpful in helping us assemble a list of individuals that might have
information about these associates, or, in
fact, be among the associates. We are looking at the possibility that there may have been more
than four planes targeted for
hijacking. But we are not able at this time to confirm that.

To date the FBI has received more than 96,000 tips and potential leads: more than 54,000 on
the website, nearly 9,000 on
the hot line, the toll-free WATTS line, and more than 33,000 leads that were generated in the FBI
field offices. Obviously there
is still a great deal of information to be collected in order to understand the full picture of how last
Tuesday's attack was
planned and the full extent of damage that the terrorists intended to cause is understood.

Our effort includes talking to the numbers of people that may have information related to the
case. That's why we have
forwarded a list of more than 190 people to national, state and local law enforcement agencies
across the country and other
organizations that could be helpful in this effort, organizations like the airlines. We also have a
responsibility to use every legal
means at our disposal to prevent further terrorist activity by taking people into custody who have
violated the law and who may pose a threat to America.

The details that we have learned in the enormous destruction and devastation that was caused
by last Tuesday's attack have brought us to a turning point in our country's fight against terrorism and the preservation of the
safety and security of our society. On that morning last Tuesday the forces of terrorism attacked the citizens of our country
with a ferocity that was
nothing short of a declaration of war against the people of America.

The President of the United States has announced that we
will meet that declaration with a full commitment of resources and with a firm resolve to rid the
world of terrorism.

The fight against terrorism must be an overriding priority of the Department of Justice. I have
talked this week about
possible legislative changes that we would need in order to be able to fight effectively against
terrorism. And I'm pleased with
the cooperation from members of Congress and their ideas, their comments, their suggestions and
their support for a package
which we would hope to have ready in the next few days. But this new effort requires more than
just legislation.

There are actions the Department of Justice can take now on its own to make sure the
prevention of terrorism is a high
priority.

That's why last night at my direction Immigration and Naturalization Service
Commissioner Jim Ziglar signed an
administrative revision to the current INS regulations regarding the detention of aliens. The
regulation previously allowed the
Immigration and Naturalization Service only 24 hours in which to decide whether to charge an
alien that had been taken into
custody because of a violation.

The revision announced last night expands the 24-hour time
period to 48 hours, or to an
additional reasonable time if necessary under an emergency or in other extraordinary
circumstances. This rule change will apply
to the 75 individuals who are currently detained by the INS on immigration violations that may
also have information related to
this investigation.

In addition, every United States attorney's office has reviewed the office's resources and
structure in light of the growing
threat of terrorism. As a part of the new counterterrorism strategy, every United States attorney
and every district of such an
attorney that hasn't already done so has been asked to establish an antiterrorism task force. At my
direction last week, each
U.S. attorney's office identified an experienced prosecutor who will serve as the antiterrorism
coordinator for that district.

That
coordinator is to convene a meeting of representatives from the federal law enforcement agencies,
and that would be the FBI,
the INS, the DEA, the Marshals Service, Customs, Secret Service, the ATF, or Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms.

Together with those federal officials there would be the invitation to primary state and local
police forces in that district.

That
group, headed by the U.S. attorney, would be the antiterrorism task force in that U.S. attorney's
district.

These task forces will
be a part of a national network that will coordinate the dissemination of information and the
development of a strategy to
disrupt, dismantle and punish terrorist organizations throughout the country.

First, the task forces will serve as a conduit for information about suspected terrorists between
federal and local agencies,
so that local police forces can be part and parcel of an effort to prevent terrorist attacks by having
access to the information
available to federal agencies.

Intelligence about terrorist networks obtained by federal agencies
will be disseminated through
these task forces to the local police officials who can help monitor any terrorist network in their
locality.

Also, intelligence
developed by local police will be conveyed through this collaboration to the federal agencies. This
information highway will not
be a one-way street.

Second, the antiterrorism task force in each district will serve as a coordinating body for
implementing the operational plan
for the prevention of terrorism.

Once substantial credible information is received indicating that
individuals or groups in a
particular district may be terrorists or abetting terrorism or aiding terrorism, the members of the
antiterrorism task force in
conjunction with the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice will determine and implement
the most effective strategy for
incapacitating any terrorist activity on their part.

Third, the antiterrorism task force in each district will serve as a standing organizational
structure for a coordinated response
to any terrorist incident in that district.

In sum, the implementation of the task force coordinated by the U.S. attorney in each district,
working with the FBI, will
provide the operational foundation for a concerted national assault against terrorism. This system
will provide law enforcement
with a comprehensive, seamless approach to attack terrorism within our borders.

Now, I understand that this is an aggressive and an ambitious agenda, that it represents a more
preventative approach to
doing business in the U.S. attorney's offices together with the FBI than perhaps has been the case
in the past. We must all
recognize that our mission has changed.

It has been changed by the events of this last week.

The threat that seemed fairly remote to most Americans seven days ago is now felt in every
heart and every home in the
United States.

And if we are to dispel this threat, we must meet it with ingenuity and with
determination.

I want to thank all of
the hard-working individuals in the Federal Bureau of Investigation and all of the United States
attorneys across the country,
and state and local law enforcement officials who have joined together with us for their quick
action in this important mission.

Let me just address you on another matter that I think may be of concern to you.

As you all may be aware, a new Internet infection designed NIMDA -- some people say that's
"ADMIN" backwards -- it
is, but I'm not sure if that's consequential -- was noted this morning. It may have started as early
as yesterday, and it infects
computers on the Internet worldwide.

The computers that are infected then scan the Internet in
search of other computers.

And
this very substantially expands the traffic load on the Internet. The scanning activity thus far
indicates that this could be heavier
than the July activity with Code Red. Our government together with the private sector -- which is,
incidentally, a very strong
and powerful partnership when we work together -- is assessing the problem. And we'll try and
provide more information from
the FBI to you about this later today.

In the meantime, I'm pleased to say that I understand that most of the antivirus companies have
posted the files needed to
protect unprotected computers, and those files obviously are available at this time.

There is no evidence at this time which links this infection to the terrorist attacks of last week.

Thank you very much.

Q What evidence is there, Mr. Attorney General, at this point that might connect this case to
the Iraq government? And
secondly, has the FBI scuttled any other planned attacks that you're aware of?

ATTY GEN. ASHCROFT: Let me take those in inverse order, if you will. Obviously, as the
FBI and other law
enforcement agencies elevate their security, we would hope if there were other attacks in the
making, that those would be
deterred.

And that's the reason we are asking people around the country to not only work, but to
watch, and law enforcement
and security agencies to elevate their concerns.

I wouldn't be in a position to discuss evidence in regard to questions about other responsible
parties.

Q Two weeks ago -- a few weeks ago, I should say, the FBI questioned flight schools in
Minnesota and in Oklahoma about
a man who we now know is in custody because of suspicions about his flight training requests.
Did the FBI or any federal
officials warn airlines or FAA to be on the watch for this individual? And if not, why not?

ATTY GEN. ASHCROFT: I'm not able to make a comment on that.

Yes, ma'am.

Q Mr. Ashcroft, earlier this year, you had a series of meeting with a bipartisan group from
Congress in an effort to try and
repeal the use of secret evidence, evidence that is not shared with the defendants, so-called
classified information. Courts have
repeatedly struck down the use of secret evidence against possible criminal aliens. You also had
assured Congress a while
back that to the best of your knowledge, secret evidence is not being used by this administration
against possible criminal aliens,
including alleged terrorists, and that you would not use secret evidence until Congress decided
what to do.

Given the situation,
will that change you opinion and also Congress' move, which I thought was imminent this month,
to try and repeal the use of
secret evidence?

ATTY GEN. ASHCROFT: Well, your question brings us really to a point about the extent to
which we will respect the
constitutional rights of individuals.

And we will not yield in our determination to protect the
constitutional rights of individuals.

Very frankly, those who attack the United States would attack the constitutional rights as well as
the safety of individuals.

We're going to do everything we can to harmonize the constitutional rights of individuals with
every legal capacity we can
muster to also protect the safety and security of individuals.

It's with that in mind that we would evaluate any potential changes in the law.

Yes?

Q Are any of the 71 being held --

Q (Inaudible) -- system to track visa over-stays? No one even knows how many people are in
the U.S. now without a visa.

ATTY GEN. ASHCROFT: Would you want to repeat that question?

Q No one would ever have found these people if there hadn't been a catastrophe, because
there's no way to track people who are out of status or whatever way you want to call it.

ATTY GEN. ASHCROFT: The president of the United States recognized a very broad set of
deficiencies in our Immigration and Naturalization services that related to very many people out of status, and
suggested and has called for a
reformation in INS. Plans to make the Immigration and Naturalization Service a better service
agency and a better enforcement
agency are under way.

And I can only hope that when we do that, it will result in an elevated
capacity to secure the safety of
the American people.

Yes, sir?

Q General Ashcroft -- (off mike) -- information that there were more than five planes or six
planes? You said you're unable
to confirm it.

ATTY GEN. ASHCROFT: We are unable to confirm that there are additional planes, but we
have not ruled that out in our
evaluation.

And we are pursuing an examination and investigative potentials that might help us be
more certain about that
particular matter.

Yes?

Q Are you assuming wartime powers?

Q (Inaudible) -- possible tips, how is it possible to check all of them? And how many are
actually proving to be helpful?

ATTY GEN. ASHCROFT: (Chuckles.) Well, that's a very good question. Obviously, many of
them are redundant and
many of them are mutually exclusive. And so we sort through them as best we can. We try to
prioritize them.

And pursuing an
investigation like this is a little bit like selling insurance; it doesn't matter how many bad ones you
get, it's a matter of how many
times you finally find a situation where the answer is yes, and you pursue it. When we get to a
good lead, then we follow it.

Q Are any of (these suspects ?) considered prisoners of war? Are you assuming wartime
powers in any way?